Charlotte 49ers College Football Pregame Quote, 08/27/2019

Hope you like the new seats; we did that just for you guys. It’s incredible that it’s already here. The guys (Jeff Gemmell & Benny LeMay) beside me have been through a lot over the last nine months. There has been a lot of transition. I just wanted to say thanks to you guys (media) for the support we’ve gotten; and this city has started to rally around this university and this athletic department and this football program. It’s exciting to see what we have begun to build. Obviously, it’s not done yet. You can create a buzz, but if you aren’t putting together wins and doing the right things, then it can be all for nothing. This Thursday is a big test. I’ve got a lot of respect for Gardner-Webb and Coach McCray. I’ve told everybody — I’ve been on the FCS side for 15 years, so I know exactly what it’s like in that locker room. I’m anxious and eager but I’m not nervous because I feel like the work that we have put in has been extremely hard and the guys have bought in to what we are wanting to do. And now is the fun part. We get 12 guaranteed opportunities and we have to make sure we make the most of them.

What is the QB plan for Thursday?

We are going to play both. I am not sure who will start yet. We are going to have a staff meeting after this and see who we would play in certain situations and I think the only question for us right now is who would take the first snap. They have both had really good camps and I think that Brett (Kean) being here has really elevated Chris’ (Reynolds) game and I think that Chris has really helped Brett. Chris has been really consistent and gives us a lot of options and he has run the ball really well, distributed the ball to our playmakers on the perimeter. And Brett has been able to stretch the field and throw the ball really well, has come in and got better every single day. The competition between the two has ramped up and we had plans of one of them separating themselves from the other, but now, I don’t think that’s happened. I think that they have both competed at a very high level. They will know, our team will know, here’s the plan, let’s stick to it, and as we get to the second half, we will see who has the hot hand and go from there.

What is the approach going to be as the 49ers go into the first game against Gardner-Webb and how we are going to approach it both offensively and defensively?

For us, regardless of who we are playing, it’s about us and our plan will not change no matter who we are playing. We take a lot of pride in what we do and there is no one in college football who will play harder than we do; we take a lot of pride in what we do and getting the opportunity to play on Saturday, or in this case, on Thursday. I think defensively we have to run constantly and tackle; a lot of times in the first game, you see tackling show up but in a bad way and we have to make sure we are rallying to the football. We have to play with tremendous energy and we have to rush the passer well. We need to create some turnovers. Offensively we have to make sure we are taking care of the football and make sure that Benny (LeMay) gets enough touches. We have to make great decisions and we can’t put the ball in jeopardy. We also need to win in the trenches. So that’s not going to change and has nothing to do with Gardner-Webb and whoever is left on our schedule. With it being the first time, we are doing things we need to make sure that the sideline looks like how we want it to look, our guys enjoying playing the game, our guys celebrating like we need to celebrate and our guys into it mentally; do we get the substitutions we need when special teams assignments come up. And lastly, are we clean, disciplined and it’s about everyone learning together on the run. This is what a great football team should look like and it starts for us on Thursday.

Coach you have two freshmen linebackers on the depth chart. What does that say about what you recruited and the needs or a combination of the two?

I would love to take credit for that but it wasn’t all on me. But I do think we were able to add some depth with this past class and it makes you feel really good when Jeff (Gemmell) is running out there with the first group, because a lot of times in that first game, you also see communication errors defensively. So you are seeing a player who has played a lot of snaps and games and who has had a lot of success; he has also helped those young guys, Jaylon (Sharpe) and Prince (Bemah), who we feel like have a very bright future here at Charlotte. You’ve watched those guys mature, and the best part about it for us is that we have an older group with a lot of seniors that work the way you want them to work and prepare the way you want them to prepare. So it shows the young guys what it takes to have success at this level.

What is your thought on the four-game rule and redshirting?

My thought is, if they are physically ready to play, then let’s play them early and see if we can get them to play all 12 games. If we get to game four, and they aren’t where we want them to be or they aren’t getting enough snaps, then we may say okay now they are in the redshirt mentality. Guys who we feel like need more time with Chris (Laskowski) in the weight room and then see if they are ready to go after that. You want to put guys in successful situations and I feel like we do have depth and have really good players that have played a lot of ball. We have a senior-laden football team, so fortunately, we don’t have to throw guys out there in game one. I’m not a big fan of running guys down on kickoffs and burning their redshirts either. I think that It would need to be meaningful snaps at their position in order for me to pull their redshirt.

Where is the fine line between energy, passion, enthusiasm, positivity and discipline?

Because we have an older football team, you don’t worry about it as much. You don’t allow the give-and-take of the game, the environment, to take over. But you do need to enjoy doing what you do and enjoy having success. It makes you hungry enough to want to do it again. I think this is the greatest profession ever invented ‚Äì you get a chance to go, celebrate and enjoy things with people from all different cultures, all different backgrounds and watch them have success and fight through some walls they never thought they’d have to fight through before. These guys have enjoyed the process. They have worked extremely hard to say, ‚Äòthis is not about, let’s not build this thing for four or five years; this is about, we have a group of seniors that deserve to win now and win big now.’ We have made a lot of progress in a short amount of time. It will be exciting to see that pay off on Thursday.

Who will be returning kicks?

Nafees (Lyon) will probably return the first one. I would say that Marquill (Osborne) and Micaleous (Elder) would be the others that would return some. Those three guys have been really good. I have no concern about putting Micaleous back there in his first game. He’s ready and he’ll be dynamic with the ball in his hands.

What is one of the takeaways from the game?

A win. That would be first. To me, all the other pieces that the win is the byproduct of ‚Äì how hard did we play? Did we look like a disciplined football team? The penalties. We have to keep the penalties down. We can’t turn the ball over; we have to create turnovers. The tackling. How did we tackle? Did we run to the football on defense? Did we get pressure on the quarterback? But, more than anything, we need to enjoy when we have success. These guys have worked really hard for 353 days for 12 guaranteed opportunities. And if you don’t enjoy the game day, and a game day doesn’t absolutely just blow a practice energy out of the water, then why are we doing it? Why are we playing a game? They’re going to see me running around the sidelines, jumping up and down and probably tackling Benny whenever he doesn’t get tackled on the field and just enjoying it. It is so much fun for me to watch these guys prepare, work and then succeed.